China is the oldest, continuous civilization on earth. Ancient records date back to about 2500 B.C. and coincides with the Biblical timeline, which shows that the great flood took place around 2344 B.C. Bible Study – Flood
Ancient Chinese myth has their first king, Fu-hi or Fohi (Chinese Noah) making his appearance on the Mountain of Chin surrounded by a rainbow after the world had been covered with water. Myth says this Chinese Noah also sacrificed animals to God.
According to Silvia Videler, the Miao tribe of Southwest China has a similar myth. The Miao think God destroyed the world by flood because of the wickedness of man. The Miao myth also says Nuah (Noah) had three sons: Lo Han (Ham), Lo Shen (Shem), and Jah-hu (Japheth).
“ShangDi, the Creator-God of the Chinese, surely appears to be one and the same as the Creator-God of the Hebrews.” Answer in Genesis
“One of the earliest accounts of the Border Sacrifice is found in the Shu Jing (Book of History), compiled by Confucius (551 to 479 B.C.), where it is recorded that Emperor Shun (2256 to 2205 B.C.) sacrificed to ShangDi.” Answer in Genesis
ShangDi is the High God of the ancient Chinese. He was worshiped as the Creator God for thousands of years. ShangDi was known as the Heavenly Ruler and the Chinese emperors were known as the Sons of Heaven. No other god was higher or more powerful.
Evidence says that the ancient Chinese understood the nature of God as the ancient Hebrews did after Abraham (1812 B.C. to 1637 B.C.), who is considered the father of the Jews (about 3,000 years old), Christians (about 2,000 years old) and Muslims (about 1,400 years old).
While the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans worshiped many gods, the Chinese worshiped one God above all others, ShangDi. If true, that would mean the Chinese might have believed in God longer than the Jews, Christians or Muslims.
In fact, it appears that the Chinese believed in God (ShangDi) without an organized religion for more than four thousand years.
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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
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Hi Lloyd, I didnt know about this particular myth from the Miao peoples but I did know about a similar myth from the Ainu, who live in south Yunnan.
The similiarities though to “noah” – even in the sound of the name – “nuah” – are quite extraordinary.
I believe that the flood myths – which are world wide and contain many similiiarities – tell the story of the sinking of the ancient island of Lemuria, or Mu, and that many peoples from that ancient island migrated elsewhere, carrying on the oral history. Hawaiian, Maori and many Polynesian peoples carry on this ‘oral history’ or ‘myth’ , depending on your viewpoint, and there is an extraordinary amount of evidence out there about it.
This is connected to the myths about Mr Buzhou collapsing and Nuwa rescuing Humanity with her five coloured stones after ‘great fires and floods’.
It’s been a long term project of mine to collect world myths about the ancient floods which in Christian mythology is connected with Noah. The Polynesians are the greatest source of these myths but they are global.
So thankyou for adding another one to my collection!
You’re welcome.
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